


Risk

by anotetofollow



Series: Illustrated Fanfic Commissions [6]
Category: Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: Angst, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, Non-Graphic Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-05
Updated: 2017-10-05
Packaged: 2019-01-09 12:15:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,091
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12276282
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anotetofollow/pseuds/anotetofollow
Summary: After Reyes is injured on Kadara, he and Kit Ryder must face up to the reality of what happens if one of them doesn't make it.Illustrated fanfic commission, with art by tumblr user @noctuaalba!Kit Ryder belongs to tumblr user @polarelle!





	Risk

**Author's Note:**

> a joint commission with @noctuaalba for @polarelle - thanks so much for the commission!

“Get down!"

Ryder managed to throw herself into cover as the grenade detonated, sending shrapnel flying through the air around her. She peered through the dust for Reyes, and found him crouching on the ground a few feet away from her. He was clutching at his side.

“Are you hit?” she yelled above the gunfire.

He nodded, gritting his teeth against the pain as he crawled across the ground towards her. Blood seeped out from between his fingers. “There’s a sniper up on the ridge. If I’d have spotted him a second later I’d be worse than hit.”

“Shit.” Ryder looked over the rocks they were hiding behind, then ducked back when a barrage of gunfire exploded from the clearing ahead. “There’s too many. We can’t take them all.”

It was supposed to be a routine excursion. Reyes had heard some rumours about the Kett in the course of his ‘business dealings’, and had arranged to take Ryder to meet a contact who supposedly had more intel. It wasn’t clear yet what had gone wrong. Either the contact had planned the ambush themselves, or one of Reyes’ rivals had found out about the meet and taken matters into their own hands. Either way, they had arrived at a secluded spot outside Kadara Port and found a small army of mercs lying in wait for them.

“SAM?” Ryder said, and felt a familiar odd sensation as the AI flickered into life.

_ Yes, Ryder? _

She didn’t hear the voice so much as feel it. “What’s the ETA on the shuttle?”

_ The Tempest is having some navigational issues. Someone has been scrambling signals out of Kadara. _

Ryder shot a look at Reyes. He was still upright, but some of the colour had drained from his face and he was leaning heavily on one outstretched hand.

“Okay, SAM. Is there anywhere safe near here?”

It took SAM a moment to reply.  _ There’s an old storage facility to the west of here. If you can get to it I should be able to access the door controls. _

“Alright.” Ryder turned her attention to Reyes. “SAM’s found us somewhere safe to go while we wait for the shuttle. Can you run?”

“Looks like we’re about to find out,” Reyes breathed. “On your signal.”

Their flight to the abandoned facility was a close thing. It wasn’t far, but there was little cover and the mercs outnumbered them ten to one. More than once Ryder felt her shield pulse as she was hit. Reyes managed to keep pace with her, but only just. When they finally got inside and the doors slammed shut behind them he fell to his knees, coughing hard.

“Let me take a look at that,” Ryder said, dropping down beside him.

Reyes moved his hand and Ryder saw where the sniper had pierced his armour. She activated her omni-tool to scan the wound, and SAM transmitted the information back to her so quickly it made her head spin.

“Well, the good news is that it didn’t hit any major organs.”

“What about minor ones?” he managed a thin smile.

“None of those either. I can patch this up but we need to get back to the Tempest quickly.”

Ryder busied herself applying medi-gel to the wound, trying not to think about what the scan had shown her. True, the wound wasn’t fatal - not yet - but Reyes had lost a lot of blood. If he didn’t get to a medic soon he could go into shock, and that would be dangerous.

“You’re not telling me something, Kit,” he said quietly.

Ryder shook her head. “Don’t worry about it.”

“If I’m dying I’d like to know about it. I want to come up with some suitably poetic last words.”

“You’re not dying,” she sighed, finishing up her work and coming to sit close beside him. “But you’re not in good shape.”

He nodded. “I thought as much.”

There was an almighty  _ crash _ as something collided with the outer doors. They were heavily reinforced, but Ryder had seen vehicles among the mercenary group. If they were really dedicated they could simply drive through.

“How long will those doors hold, SAM?”

_ A while. The shuttle is on its way. _

“Good.”

Ryder looked back at Reyes. His face was sheened with sweat, and she knew he kept his hands in fists to stop them shaking. This wasn’t their first dangerous excursion, but they had never come this close to disaster before. Reyes had built a mythos around himself, turned himself into more than a man. It was easy to forget that he could die like any other.

“You’re going to be okay,” Ryder said firmly, to reassure herself as much as him. “Jesus, Reyes, you need to be more careful.”

“ _ I _ need to be more careful?” He raised his eyebrows at her. “Your crew talk, Kit. I know what happened on the Archon’s ship.”

That gave her pause. “That’s not the same. SAM brought me back.”

“If you say so.” His lack of argument said a lot about how badly he was injured. On any other day he would have debated the point purely for the fun of it. Now he simply brushed it off, and stared blankly at the concrete floor.

“Listen,” Ryder said, putting her hand to his cheek and turning him to face her. “All of this is moot because we’re getting out of here alive. Okay?”

Reyes shook his head slowly. “We live dangerous lives, you and I. There may come a day when that isn’t so. We need to be ready for it.  _ I  _ need to be ready for it.”

“That’s enough.” Ryder leant forward and kissed him. His lips were cold to the touch. “That day might come. You’re right about that. But it won’t be today.”

Almost on cue, they heard the telltale sound of shuttle engines from outside. Someone shouted something, and there was a long minute of scattered gunfire that gradually dwindled into nothing. Then came the screeching of tires as the remaining mercenaries fled.

_ The area is clear, Ryder. Unsealing the doors now. _

“See?” Ryder said, with more confidence than she felt. “I told you.”

Reyes managed a weak smile. “That you did.”

The doors of the facility hissed, then parted. Putting her arm under Reyes’ shoulders, Ryder hauled him to his feet and helped him walk unsteadily back to the shuttle. It wouldn’t take long to get him back to the Tempest.

They had cheated fate this time. Ryder tried not to wonder how much luck they had left.


End file.
